12th, Mar, 2013
隱身舊城區中的小小店鋪，
爬梳著中文字千年堆砌的智慧。
平淡的白熾日光燈下方塊鉛字細密密地排列，
多少奇聞軼事、武俠故事，都曾因它們而傳遞，
牽引漣漪感動。
A journey of tracing the only remaining letterpress shop in Taiwan.
Countless lead seals are here for telling the history of type setting typography, especially those rare traditional Chinese characters.
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為了做版面的標頭，
追求「會暈開或是髒髒的宋體」，試過了一大堆電腦字體，
最後還是決定使用手工。
國際插畫新星Hsiao Ron Cheng對這類事情早就著迷萬分，
興奮得揪我前去挑選鉛字。
For making the header of this site, I finally decided using hand made font instead of a digital one. Therefore a journey of visiting Ri Xing Type Foundry started. Young illustrator Hsiao Ron Cheng is really interesting in it as well, so we traced this precious historical culture together.
「日星鑄字行」Ri Xing Type Foundry，
同時也是「臺灣活版印刷文化保存協會」，
是台灣僅存的鑄字行，
位於什麼都有的神奇地帶--台北車站後站。
老闆張介冠對於鉛字產業的保存不遺餘力，
在技術人才凋零、數位印刷術夾擊、同業紛紛歇業的情況下仍然堅持駐守，
以「昔字、習字、惜字」的精神，
讓百年文化能夠繼續傳承，並且推廣至更多設計與藝文活動。
'Ri Xing Type Foundry╳Taiwanese Letterpress Association' is the only remaining letterpress shop in Taiwan, it conserves a great amount of rare type instruments and materials. The owner, Mr. Chang, insists to preserve this industry even if the other competitors were all closed down. His effort and contribution make the spirit of this traditional centuries of traditional industry still vivid. Ri Xing Type Foundry located near Taipei train station, a distract that sells any kind of materials.
Start from writing down what the words you are going to choose, and then pick the fonts and size from the sample. For Chinese characters, the seals are stored via it's radical, so it can be easier for people who uses dictionary frequently. If the types drop, they should be seem as defective products and not been stored back.
地址：台北市太原路97巷13號
電話： (02) 2556–4626
開放時間：
【週一至週五】 早上九時至中午十二時三十分，下午二時至五時三十分
【週六及週日】 單週週六 早上九時三十分至中午十二時
【國定假日】 休息
Address: No. 13, Lane 97, Tàiyuán Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103
Phone:+886 2 2556 4626
Opining Hours:
[Monday to Friday] 9:00 am-12:00, 14:00 – 17:30
[The First and the Third Saturday] 9:00-12:00
Closed on bank holidays.
contact@letterpress.org.tw
追求「會暈開或是髒髒的宋體」，試過了一大堆電腦字體，
最後還是決定使用手工。
國際插畫新星Hsiao Ron Cheng對這類事情早就著迷萬分，
興奮得揪我前去挑選鉛字。
For making the header of this site, I finally decided using hand made font instead of a digital one. Therefore a journey of visiting Ri Xing Type Foundry started. Young illustrator Hsiao Ron Cheng is really interesting in it as well, so we traced this precious historical culture together.
「日星鑄字行」Ri Xing Type Foundry，
同時也是「臺灣活版印刷文化保存協會」，
是台灣僅存的鑄字行，
位於什麼都有的神奇地帶--台北車站後站。
老闆張介冠對於鉛字產業的保存不遺餘力，
在技術人才凋零、數位印刷術夾擊、同業紛紛歇業的情況下仍然堅持駐守，
以「昔字、習字、惜字」的精神，
讓百年文化能夠繼續傳承，並且推廣至更多設計與藝文活動。
'Ri Xing Type Foundry╳Taiwanese Letterpress Association' is the only remaining letterpress shop in Taiwan, it conserves a great amount of rare type instruments and materials. The owner, Mr. Chang, insists to preserve this industry even if the other competitors were all closed down. His effort and contribution make the spirit of this traditional centuries of traditional industry still vivid. Ri Xing Type Foundry located near Taipei train station, a distract that sells any kind of materials.
日星鑄字行本身也會舉辦藝文講座，
並且也徵招保存活字印刷的義工，
以常常和各國專家交流這些稀少又真貴的歷史文物。
付上：日星鑄字行的Blog
鑄字行隱身在太原路的小小巷內，
好容易擦身而過，
站在門口還認真看了好幾眼才能確定。
There are some seminars hold via Ri Xing Type Foundry, for spreading the idea of preserve their heritage. They gather volunteers and invite international specialists to achieve this good deed.
(see: Ri Xing Type Foundry's Blog)
Ri Xing Type Foundry itself is quite inconspicuous, I nearly passed by without a glance if had not holding Google map.
非常低調的門面，反而有古樸氣質
The gate of Ri Xing Type Foundry, very vintage style.
活版印刷保存協會的歷史，
以及簡單卻彷彿時光隧道的鉛字通道
The poster shows the history of the Letterpress Association.
再領了紙筆寫下自己想要買的字後，
就可以進行檢字前置作業了。
檢字前須要先用字體樣本挑好字體與大小，
再依據部首尋找鉛字，
若是不小心讓鉛字掉在地上就要算是瑕疵品了，
不能擺回架上。
門口的檢字規則
The information on choosing type.
字體樣本
The font sample
The young illustrator was so concentrated in type choosing!
字體樣本的旁邊有排版印刷機，
還有國語辭典好專業
The typography machine and dictionary.
選好字體以及大小之後，
就把想要的字和代碼給阿姨，
阿姨好迅速立刻咻咻休地把鉛字放在小木盒中給我們。
想要自己檢字的話應該也是可以吧，
但是我相信專業(其實是急性又怕把人家弄掉增加瑕疵率)。
樓上阿姨負責英文字，
樓下老闆負責中文，在一大排的字架中飛快挑出鉛字實在太帥！
In case to ruin the types, we ask the clerk for helping us to pick. She was so fast and professional, just collected all we wonted in few minutes! Then we went down stares for Chinese characters, the owner pick the types himself for us, and super efficient as well!
英文字排得密密麻麻
English alphabets
一下樓就有許多尚未歸位的鉛字
Chinese characters are store in the basement
中文的方塊字排起來超有個性啊！
像漫畫店一樣有好幾層架子，常並用的字會放再一起
The characters used to use together are organized next to each other.
「流浪」兩個字都好新，果然是熱門字！
The characters of my site.
檢完字就可以去結帳了，
鉛字不貴，中文的依大小有價目表，
英文的好像是用秤的，
另外可以加購印泥，是不會暈的油性印泥，
好像是TWD 40的樣子(買完東西立刻忘記價錢的人)。
After finish collecting the types, it's time to bill. The seals are not expensive, Chinese characters are valued by the size and English alphabets are valued by weight. Furthermore, you can also purchase colourful ink, it's oily, suitable for lead seals.
這樣大約是TWD130
These are about TWD130 in total.
最後，不要忘記洗手，
因為鉛是有毒的，雖然我們小時候用鉛筆寫功課也都是長大了啦。
In the end, please do not forget to wash your hands since lead is toxicant!
電話： (02) 2556–4626
開放時間：
【週一至週五】 早上九時至中午十二時三十分，下午二時至五時三十分
【週六及週日】 單週週六 早上九時三十分至中午十二時
【國定假日】 休息
Address: No. 13, Lane 97, Tàiyuán Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103
Phone:+886 2 2556 4626
Opining Hours:
[Monday to Friday] 9:00 am-12:00, 14:00 – 17:30
[The First and the Third Saturday] 9:00-12:00
Closed on bank holidays.
contact@letterpress.org.tw